Historical perspective on Business communication
Ancient Period
The history
of business or management communication can be traced back to early history
when humans started commercial activities
such as agriculture and trade.
As early as 3200 BC, Egyptians kept
records of business transactions, especially requests for trade goods in
writing. It is believed that ancient Romans used a special business language to
trade and negotiate as the world.
According to
Claude A. George, in the medieval period (5th to the late 15th centuries), with the rise of banking in Italy, a more advanced system of business
communication began as Venice became
the center of commercial activities.
During the Lichhavi period, Nepal also had flourished commercial
activities and trade relations with Tibet.
Records of business transactions can be found in historical documents, including inscriptions (शिलालेख), legends (किंवदन्तीहरू), and chronicles (इतिहास). Legal documents, codes of business transactions, and tax
codes of early historical periods can be taken as the early forms of business
communication.
Industrial Revolution and After
Radical innovation and development in
business communication took place during and after the Industrial
Revolution in Europe. With the
introduction of mass production and division of labor, factories employed a large
number of workers. This led to the need for a more efficient communication
system to regulate and control labor, explore markets, and increase efficiency
and productivity.
During this
period, giving precise (स्पष्ट/ सटीक) instructions to the workers remained the main communicative
tasks of the managers.
With the
introduction of democracy in 2007 BS, a more
systematic written form of communication began in Nepal. Modeled after the
colonial administration (औपनिवेशिक प्रशासन) of India, official written documents---applications, forms,
vouchers, appointment letters-were written in a typical nineteenth-century
fashion.
Modern Period
By the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century,
newer management models were developed and practiced. Management systems became
more people-oriented than task-oriented.
The recognition (पहिचान) of the power of communication in
persuading and influencing led to the behavioral and empowerment (सशक्तिकरण) models of communication.
Organizations
accepted the importance of empowering employees, instead of ordering them.
Organizations became increasingly democratic (लोकतान्त्रिक). In this context, the social
function of communication, that is, communication as a means of interaction and
building relations became more prominent (महत्त्वपूर्ण).
However, as
Nepal remained virtually cut off from the world during the Rana régime, these
new ideas hardly made inroads to bring significant changes in business
communication practices in Nepali business and bureaucratic (सत्तावाद) sectors. Though there have been some
changes, the process has remained extremely slow.
Contemporary Period
Presently,
globalization and innovation in communication technologies have brought significant
changes in business communication practices. Basically, three things are most
noticeable: diversity (विविधता) in the workplace, the changed concept of work
and the use of second generation internet technologies.
Due to
globalization businesses are not limited to a single location; they
simultaneously (एकै साथ) operate in different countries. What this means is that
people from different backgrounds and cultures are found working together as a
team.
On the one
hand, this makes communication challenging; on the other hand, it provides a
greater opportunity to share and learn from each other.
Similarly, a
few years back, remote working, telecommuting, and virtual teams were unheard
of. But, with the explosion of internet technology, people can remotely work
and collaborate (मिलेर काम गर्नु). They increasingly utilize communication technologies such
as video-conferencing,
collaborative tools like MS Teams, and meeting technologies like Zoom.
Moreover, companies have adapted web-based technologies such as social networking sites, blogs, and instant messaging as internal and external communication tools. As a result, business communication these days has become dynamic (गतिशील), multidirectional (बहुदिशात्मक) , and more democratic.
